October 6, 2023

October! 

by Mrs Ford

I can’t believe we are in October already! The dark evenings are getting more and more noticeable! Although apparently this weekend is meant to be unseasonable warm so this might be our chance to make the most of the last bit of sun before the weather really does turn. I was having a mooch around Fleet the other day and the amount of shops that have got Christmas bits and bobs out already. Just a reminder that if you haven’t already done so, the appointments are now open to book a parents evening slot to speak with your child’s teacher and see how they are settling into Year 1.  

This week in English, we have been using the book ‘Animalphabet‘ by Julia Donaldson to learn about the alphabet. We have been learning about capital letters and lower case letters.  We have also started to learn about alphabetical order and using adjectives in sentences. Next week, we will be focussing on the book ‘Each Peach Pear Plum’ by Janet and Allan Ahlberg. We will be exploring the nursery rhymes and fairy tales found in the book to help us identify and label the characters. We will also be using prepositions to describe where the characters are hiding. 

This week in maths, we have been focusing on the number 8. We have looked at different ways to make the number 8, discussing how the number can be split into different parts. For example 4 and 4, 3 and 5, 1 and 7 etc. and shown different ways to record this such as cherry diagrams, tens frames and using coins to make the amount. Next week, we will be focussing on the number 9. We will again be using coins to show different combinations of how to make 9p. We will also be using objects to split 9 into 2 parts and introducing a new method called a bar model. This is hard to explain but it’s a great pictorial representation of a number where bars are used to represent the different quantities. This helps the children visually see the whole number at the top and the two parts below. If you’re not sure what I mean, please ask your class teacher for some clarity! 

Just a few reminders:  

  • Please make sure all your child’s belongings are labelled. Things do go missing and I’m convinced there is a black hole somewhere in the school that sucks them in and they never come back.  
  • Please send your child’s water bottle and book bag into school every day. 
  • Our Year 1 PE day is on a Monday. 
  • Reading books in school are changed once a week and this will be every Monday. The books will be collected in in the morning and a new one will be issued that same afternoon. 

Dates: 

17th October – Face to Face Parents Evening 3.30-6.30pm 

18th October – Virtual Parents Evening 4-7pm 

23rd – 27th October – Half Term 

30th October – Inset Day 

21st November – Phylis Tuckwell Assembly  

22nd November – Fleet Festivities  

29th November – Nasal Flu (details to follow) 

5th December – Bumblebee Christmas Play AM 

6th December – Hedgehog Christmas Play PM 

12th December – Christmas Lunch 

13th December – Elf Run 

15th December – Last Day of Term 

Have a lovely weekend, see you next week! 

Mrs Ford and the Year 1 team.